In this 2014 report by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Poverty and Progress in New York I: Conditions in New York City’s Poorest Neighborhoods, written by Stephen Eide, it details some of the key findings and trends of specific low-income neighbors in the city.
While it notes that the poverty rate has remained largely unchanged in the poorest neighborhoods since 1980, there are also some positive outlooks to be found. Specifically, “some of New York’s poorest neighborhoods have made substantial progress in rates of educational attainment.”
“New York’s City’s resurgence over the past three decades has been characterized by greater fiscal stability, less crime, less dependence on cash welfare, and sustained economic growth. Although income has increased broadly, the gains have been proportionately greater for the most affluent households. This rise of income inequality has prompted newly elected mayor Bill de Blasio to characterize New York as a “tale of two cities” – and to pledge to improve incomes and quality of life for the least well-off. This study establishes a baseline against which future progress may be measured. It presents a quantitative profile, at the neighborhood level, of the low-income New York that Mayor de Blasio inherited.”